Thursday, February 03, 2005

The post where I thank my precious friends for existing.

Back in November, I posted about an outing to a restaurant that was ruined by other people's misbehaving children. The post was not intended to make fun of children in any way; its intent was to give a little friendly jab to parents who did not insist that their kids behave in a public place. There was no malice anywhere in that post.

Someone out there interpreted that post as a malicious and cruel diatribe against disabled children. This is so not the case. I would NEVER do that.

This person ranted against me back in November. People rallied to my defense, and I apologized for causing him concern. He apologized for overreacting. I forgot about it all.

Last night I found that he had not forgotten about it. In fact, he posted on his journal that he wished he hadn't apologized at all, because on MLK Day he realized that my post about naughty kids in public places fell into the same category as rants against minorities made by Nazis, bigots, and other evils. He stated that he had been wrong to apologize.

I'm trying to analyze why Gary's post upset me so badly. One person whom I don't even know. A stranger. One person. One person's opinion should not have knocked the floor out from under me like that. And it did. Why did it?

I guess it is because, since children are so very important to me, and in fact are the very core of my existence, having someone say such things about me in regard to children, blew me away with its unfairness. It just blew me away. The shock was staggering. Is.

I find much humor in children, because there is a lot of humor there to be found. I do NOT, however, deride children in any way, nor would I ever. Children are the most important things in the universe.

So many people have comforted me, and I appreciate and love you all. Oh, you have no idea how very, very much you are cherished. I hope you have some idea, but you couldn't possibly know the degree.

To be misjudged has to be the worst possible thing to happen to a person. It's happened before, and I am still reeling; and now, well, in a few minutes I have to leave for work and I don't seem to be able to get myself together because my head is hurting and my emotions are still spinning. Good thing that one more class has to sit through the boring video, huh. I don't think I would be a very good lecturer today. Besides, my eyes are red and puffy, so it's also good that the room will be darkened.

Please don't go storming over to Gary's blog and make comments. I do not want anyone to sink to that same level. And please don't put his link on any of your comments here. I appreciate everything you have all said, and it has given me much comfort and hope, but please don't send people over to his site in my defense. I just don't work like that, even if he does. Besides, it wouldn't make any difference. I don't think a person who posts a rant, apologizes for it, and then posts again about how he wishes he hadn't apologized, would care. He's too convinced that he was in the right.

I've gone over that post he attacked with a fine-toothed comb. There is just nothing there that supports his stand. I considered just removing it and giving up, but you know what, I'm not going to. I liked it, and I'm standing by it. His interpretation of it was completely wrong, but nobody else interpreted it that way, and most of you seemed to enjoy it, too. It was so long ago, back in November!

If nothing else, I guess it made an impression on him.

As for his grouping me with Nazis and bigots, all I can say is, I am not a Nazi, and I am not a bigot. I sometimes say "shit" and "pissed" and the occasional big D, but I have never in all my life ever used the slurs he posted on his site and I never will.